Apparatus for continuously abrading elongated strands



April 8, 1952 1 E. T. LORlG 2,592,161

APPARATUS .FOR CQNTINUOUSLY ABRADING ELQNGATED STRANDS Filed Aug. 5,1949 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. EDWIN T. LORIG- ATTORNEY E. T. LORIGApril 8, 1952 APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY ABRADING ELONGATED STRANDS 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 5, 1949 INVENTOR. BY EDWIN T. LORIG a ATTORNEYE. T. LORIG April 8, 1952 APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY ABRADING ELONGATEDSTRANDS .Filed Aug. 5, 1949 i I s Sheets-Sheet INVENTORA I EDWIN T.LORIG ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 8, 1952 APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY ABRAD-ING ELONGATED STRANDS Edwin T.

Lorig, Ross Township, Allegheny County, Pa., assignor to United StatesSteel Company, a. corporation of New Jersey Application August 5, 1949,Serial No. 108,821

This invention relates to apparatu for continuously abrading anelongated strand and more particularly to such apparatus for abradingthe surface of a narrow strip slit from wide hot rolled coils. Th stripin the coils hasa, crown across its Width so that they are thicker in thcenter than on the edges. If the strip is pickled, cold reduced, andslit, the center slit coils are thicker in gage than those secured fromthe edges because the cold rolling merely reduces and does not eliminatethe crown. Furthermore, the edges of th slit strip are slightly thickeron one edge than on the other. The strip also varies in gage from itsleading to trailing edge and thisvariation is not always uniformlyremoved in the cold rolling process. The edges of the slit coils areoften rough and have sharp burrs thereon. In order to produce a smoothnarrow strip of uniform cross section, it is necessary to grind thesurface of the strip. At present this is not feasible for many reasons.Any means presently available is relatively slow and there is danger ofdamage to the strip due to excessive heating.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide apparatus forcontinuously abrading strip in which the danger of overheating the stripis greatly reduced.

It is another object to provide such apparatus at which the abrading isdone at a high speed.

These and other objects Will be more apparent after referring 'to thefollowing description and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic view of one species of the apparatus;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic view of a second species of my invention;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan view of a third embodiment of my invention;

Figure 6 is a side view of Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a schematic view of a fourth embodiment; and

Figure 8 is a top plan view of Figure '7.

Referring more particularly to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, thereference numeral 2 indicates a continuous strand helical conveying reelsuch as is shown in my copending applications, Serial No. 80,673, filedMarch 10, 1949, Serial No. 85,699, filed April 5, 1949, which issued asPatent No. 2,589,411 on March 18, 1952, and Serial No. 86,375, filedApril 18, 1949 which issued as Patent No. 2,576,233 on November 27,1951. A rotatable roll 4 is spaced from the reel 2 and has its axissubstantially parallel to the axis of the reel. An

6 Claims. (Cl. 51-74) abrading wheel or belt 6 is arranged adjacent theroll 4 and is movable to and from the roll. The abrading wheel 6 may bea grinding wheel, wire brush, bufier, or a combination thereof. Thestrip S to be smoothed passes from an uncoiler, not shown, to thehelical conveying reel 2, thence to the roll 4, back to the reel 2 andis gradually moved across the surface of the reel in the mannermorefully disclosed in my aforesaid copending applications and then leavesthe reel, as shown by the arrow in Figure 1. If desired, the strip S canenter and leave thev apparatus as shown in broken lines in Figure 1. Itwill be seen that as each convolution moves across the face of the roll4, it will be contacted by the abrading wheel 6. If a combination wheelis used, the initial operation may be a rough grinding and the finaloperation a bufing operation. It is apparent that each increment ofsurface of the strand S will receive the same surface treatment. Sinceno portion of the strip S is in contact with the abrading wheel 6 forany substantial length of time, there will be no danger of the stripoverheating.

The apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2 will only smooth one sid of thestrip, but. if desired, two such units can be connected in tandem andthe strip directed from one to the other in such a manner that the twosides of the strips are successively smoothed.

The apparatus shown in Figures 3 and 4 is quite similar to that shown inFigures 1 and 2 except that it is arranged to smooth both surfaces ofthe strip being processed. As shown in Figure 3, the strip S passes fromthe uncoiler 8, around the guide roll [0, to the continuous strandhelical conveying reel [2 and then around the guide roll M to a rubberor belt back-up roll 16. A roll l8, similar to roll I6, is spaced ashort distance from roll 16, the strip passing between and around therolls in such a manner that the side of the strip contacting the roll [6will be on the outside as it passes around the roll l8. From the roll ISthe strip passes around guide rolls 20 and 22 and back to the reel l2.The strip moves across the face of the reel I2 in the same manner as itdoes across the face of the reel 2 until it reaches the end thereofopposite the uncoiler 8. From here the strip passes to the coiler 24.Abrading wheels 26 and 28 are provided adjacent the back-up rolls i6 andI8, respectively, and function in the sam manner as abrading wheel 6.

Figures 5and 6 show a third embodiment of myinvention which isparticularly adapted for finishing the surface of an endless elongatedstrand forming a band B. This apparatus consists of a continuous strandhelical conveying reel 26, back-up roll 28 and an abrading wheel 30, allof which function in the same manner as in Figure 1. In addition, thereis provided a pair of spaced apart rolls 32 arranged with their axes atan angle to the reel 26. Between the rolls 32 is a strand twister 34,which turns the strip over. The elongated strip is passed around thereel 26 and roll 28 in the direction of the arrows and is delivered fromthe right hand end of the reel as shown in Figure 5 to the right handroll 32, thence through the strand twister 34 and around the left handroll 32. The strand is then cut and the two ends of the strand passingthrough the apparatus are fastened together to form an endless band B.The reel 26 is then rotated and the surface of the band Bis moved in thesame manner as in the first embodiment. Due to the twisting of the bandB both sides thereof are smoothed in alternate passes through theapparatus. The number of passes may be varied as desired.

Figures 7 and 8 disclose another embodiment of my invention which isquite similar to that of Figures 5 and 6. In this embodiment, acontinuous strand helical conveying reel 26, back-up roll 28, andabrading reel are provided in the same relationship as in Figure 6.However, the apparatus is otherwise varied in order to provide for theprocessing of a much longer strand. In this apparatus, the strip of bandB, leaving the reel 26, passes over guide rolls 36 and 38 and around areel 40, which is similar to reel 26. From here the strip in the band Bmay pass over a guide roll 42 to the band twister 44 and thence over theguide roll 46 and back to the reel 26. However, as shown in thedrawings, in order to have a still greater amount of strip in the bandB, the strip before passing over the guide roll 42, passes around guiderolls 48 to a continuous strand helical conveying reel 50 and around theguide rolls 52 and back to the reel 40.

While four embodiments of my invention have been shown and described itwill be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for continuously smoothing the surface of an elongatedgenerally rectangular strand comprising a continuous helical strandconveying reel having a width equal to the width of a multiplicity ofstrands, a rotatable roll spaced from the reel with its axissubstantially parallel to the axis of the reel, and an abrading wheeladjacent the roll and spaced therefrom a distance substantially equal tothe thickness of said strand, the said roll and abrading wheel having awidth equal to the width of a multiplicity of strands, said strand beingadapted to pass around the reel and roll a multiplicity of times side byside.

2. Apparatus for continuously smoothing the surface of an elongatedgenerally rectangular strand according to claim 1 in which means areprovided for inverting the strand after one side has been in contactwith the abrading wheel so that the opposite side thereof will contactthe roll and reel.

3. Apparatus for continuously smoothing the surface of an elongatedgenerally rectangular strand comprising a continuous helical strandconveying reel having a width equal to the width of a multiplicity ofstrands, a pair of spaced apart rotatable rolls around which the strandpasses, said rolls having their axes substantially parallel to eachother and to the axis of the reel, and

I an abrading wheel adjacent each roll and spaced therefrom a distancesubstantially equal to the thickness of said strand, the said rolls andabrading wheels having a width equal to the width of a multiplicity ofstrands, said strand being adapted to pass around the reel and roll amultiplicity of times side by side.

4. Apparatus for continuously smoothing the surface of an endlesselongated generally rectangular strand comprising a continuous helicalstrand conveying reel having a width equal to the width of amultiplicity of strands, a rotatable roll spaced from the reel with itsaxis substantially parallel to the axis of the reel, an abrading wheeladjacent the roll and spaced therefrom a distance substantially equal tothe thickness of said strand, the said roll and abrading wheel having awidth equal to the width of a multiplicity of strands, a pair of spacedapart rolls on the side of the reel opposite the first named roll, saidpair of rolls having their axes arranged at an angle to the reel, and astrand twister between said pair of rolls for inverting the strand, saidendless strand being adapted to pass a multiplicity of times side byside from said reel around said first named roll with the abrading wheelbearing thereon, around one of the pair of rolls, through said twister,around the other of said pair of rolls and back to said' reel.

5. Apparatus for continuously smoothing the surface of, an endlesselongated generally rectangular strand comprising a continuous helicalstrand conveying reel having a width equal to the width of amultiplicity of strands, a rotatable roll spaced from the reel with itsaxis substantially parallel to the axis of the reel, an abrading wheeladjacent the roll and spaced therefrom a distance substantially equal tothe thickness of said strand, the said roll and abrading wheel having awidth equal to the Width of a multiplicity of strands, a pair of spacedapart rolls on the side of the reel opposite the first named roll, astrand twister between said pair of rolls for inverting the strand, andat least one continuous strand helical conveying reel between said pairofrolls, said reel having a width equal to the width of a multiplicityof strands, said endless'strand being adapted to pass a multiplicity oftimes side by side from said reel around said first named roll with theabrading wheel bearing thereon, around one of the pair of rolls, aroundthe second named reel, through said twister, around the other of saidpair of rolls and back to said first named reel.

6. Apparatus for continuously smoothing the surface of an endlesselongated generally rectangular strand comprising a continuous helicalstrand conveying. reel having a width equal to the width of amultiplicity of strands, a rotatable roll spaced from the reel with itsaxis substantially parallel to the axis of the reel, an abrading wheeladjacent the roll and spaced therefrom a distance substantially equal tothe thickness of said strand, said roll and abrading wheel having awidth. equal to the width of a multiplicity of strands, a pair of spacedapart rolls on the side of the reel opposite the first named roll, and astrand twister between said pair of rolls for inverting the strand, saidendless strand being adapted to pass a multiplicity of times side byside from said reel around said first named roll with the abrading wheelbearing thereon, around to said reel.

EDWIN T. LORIG,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Betz Nov. 20, 1877 Number NameDate Edison Jan. 6, 1914 Carroll Oct. 26, 1915 Alden Mar. 1, 1932 DavisJan. 18, 1938 Hoyt Sept. 6, 1938 Steiner July 4, 1939 Statz Apr. 22,1941 Hoern Feb. 5, 1946

